No Laughing Matter

Have you ever thought about the role of humor while living out our faith?

Obviously God created us with a sense of humor, but sometimes I don't feel like humor and church or faith or Jesus mix. But they should!

Case in point #1: on Easter we took pictures of Pineapple and Mango with some nice stuffed animals.

The stuffed animals were a lamb and a bunny. I find this quite amusing, but at the same time bordering on sacrilege. It was actually a near accident; I was choosing the props for the photo and I picked the softest, most adorable stuffed creatures that I liked. I really hope God finds it amusing as well and not disrespectful.

Case in point #2: Easter really is quite a serious holiday for Christians. Jesus Christ conquering death is the foundation for our faith. But does that make it serious, as in humorless? Luke 24:5b. Does anyone besides me find it amusing that a pair of angels appear in a cemetery to ask the women, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" What if in a moment of wit and clarity and revelation of prophecy, Mary asked in response, "Why do you proclaim the living among the dead? You ask this question, but indeed, here you are, standing in a cemetery!" If nobody else gets it, at least I think that the Creator has a pretty satirical streak.

Free Will and a Chosen People

I've been reading the Old Testament. It suddently occurred to me; what role does a chosen people have within the context of free will?

Lately I've taken the concept of free will for granted because it was a theological issue that I contemplated and accepted early in my Christian life. When it comes to free will, I am certain that none of my ideas are my own, only fragments of what others have said and speculated about God's plan for humanity. While the Word doesn't specifically say we have "free will," we can generically say Love cannot exist without free will.

Anyway, a thought which I'm certain I haven't studied in a Bible Study or heard in church or read in a book is the recurring theme of God's chosen as it applies specifically to free will - or vice versa.

What I'm wondering is whether having a segment of society be God's "chosen people" is a critical or non-critical element of free will. If critical, then how is being chosen resolve against free will [ok, yes this touches on pre-destination, certainly not an original thought]. If non-critical, then why is it a continuous theme in God's framework for this world?

This is only one example, and certainly not the best example of God's wrath on His chosen should they sway from Him. Nonetheless it is recurring: God's people suffering, crying out, being saved, laws given, rebellion, God's wrath, God's people suffering... I guess I am trying to figure out how this loop fits into the concept of free will. Perhaps it is the very concept of free will that causes the loop to occur. The only way to exit the loop is to choose to accept being chosen and thus accept the plan of salvation, rather than God's wrath...

I wrote this in like, 9 minutes, but looking forward to much discussion and research. Your thoughts please...

Fight's On

I don't particularly like to argue.

I do, however, yearn to engage in meaningful, rational discussions that have opposing points of view. I don't think I am too proud to admit to myself when I need to change my point of view, so such discussions are rewarding to me because either (1) I'm right or (2) I will have the reasoning ammo to be right in the future.

So, while all who I know that follow this blog probably agree with me 99% of the time, I am exceedingly hopeful to engage a dissenter, that I might convince or become convinced of a necessary change in reason or paradigm.

Love of My Life

Genesis 29:20

I wish I had known this verse when my bride and I lived apart for 3 1/2 years. Now it really does seem like it was only days but how neat it would have been to reflect on this verse during that time.

Rebekah

I wonder if it would be too much to ask God to prompt Pineapple's and Mango's future fathers-in-law to make these kind of of arrangements for my girls' husbands. It is a beautiful story.

Kid Parallels

It never ceases to amaze me how God uses children as a metaphor for us growing as Christians.

John 3:3-8
Hebrews 5:11-14

Recently Pineapple has been running to find Mango's pacifier whenever she thinks she needs it. And by saying "whenever she thinks she needs it," I mean, "whenever she thinks of it." It doesn't matter if she is crying, cooing, or sleeping - Pineapple will run to retrieve the nearest pacifier and run back to Mango and attempt to shove the binky in her mouth. I am quite sure that this behavior has mutated from the original version of mom & dad using the binky to calm Mango down when she is crying despite being fed, dry, swaddled and warm.

Is not Pineapple's immature and uniformed behavior like that of many of us? We see a piece of how God works in other peoples' lives (or perhaps our own) and so we become convinced that is the end-all to God's hand in their lives? Let me share some of my convictions that cause me to stumble less in my walk with Jesus:

- No TV
- Church once a week
- Christian radio
- Daily devotions
- Tithing
- Verse memorization
- Playing the piano
- Musing on my blog

You might be thinking, "I don't think any of that has anything to do with my race." Perhaps.

But let me confess something to you. Whenever I hear of someone who has money problems, the first thing I think is, "I wonder if they have been tithing." I don't think I say this in judgement, because I don't conclude that they must not be tithing and that is why they are having financial trouble. The thought just crosses my mind. It crosses my mind because I think my financially-trouble-free existence is God's response to my commitment to tithe. Whenever I hear of parents having problems with their teenage kids, I think, "I wonder how much tv they watch?" I don't think I say this is judgement, because I don't conclude that they must watch a lot of TV and that is why the parents are having discipline problems. The thought just crosses my mind. It crosses my mind because I think my walk with Jesus, growing fruit of the spirit, and respect for my parents has improved since I stopped watching tv routinely.

So maybe I'm the only one with this problem. The problem of taking God's solution (the pacifier) for our lives (Mango) and applying it to a situation that has so many more variables involved than what I can possibly perceive. I don't expect that I am, or God would not have mentioned the speck.

The Day of Rest

Has anybody cracked the code on how to take God's given day of rest once a week when you have kids in diapers?